To Be or Not To Be Versions

Each director in the following versions displayed a certain, and consistent technique to present their perspective of the play.

In Oliver's version of Hamlet's TB/NTB soliloquy, the scene was black and white (only because it  was an old film) but it played a certain emotion. The black and white set a weary, and sorrowful scene. The setting was on a cliff above the sea, ( which honestly made me think it was The Little Mermaid) however it set a realistic suicidal feeling to it. The director used the camera to zoom into Hamlet's face (mostly forehead)  so that we can perceive it as suspense leading to his mentality and internal conflict.Then Hamlet snaps out of his trance, and returns to the reality of why he'd rather stay alive than die. His tone of voice was calm, and not as frustrated as Branagh's Hamlet. Hamlet's emotions were like the tides and waves, not like a tsunami.

Mel Gibson's interpretation of Hamlet was my favorite tbh. The directors used camera angles, like close ups and wide shots to emphasize the setting in the tomb and the emotion. The lighting is usually dark in this version since the director perceived the play dark, and forlorn. In this version, the setting was meant to put Hamlet into realization of where he'd go if he committed suicide. Unlike Oliver's and Branagh's version, the Hamlets were lost in a trance talking to themselves. But in this version, he was surrounded  by death technically. And that is realistic enough, surrounding by dead bodies brings realization of death which would eventually cause someone back out of committing suicide.

Branagh's version always drives me crazy. I honestly think in this scene though, that the director uses the mirrors as a major prop. Here, we have Hamlet talking to his reflection in the mirror but is also talking to Claudius and Polonius since they are behind that "two-way mirror". It was not really interesting as much as Branagh's Ghost Scene (where it was fast, and jumpy). I do realize though that the director made this scene calm and slow like how most students and people would interpret this scene.

In Almereyda's modern intake of the TB/NTB scene is moved by the props  such as the aisle name like Action, the Blockbuster covers of action movies, including the televisions above Hamlet with explosions. I was still confused why he was in a Blockbuster store. In a modern version in Manhattan, i would expect Hamlet looking over the Empire State or something.